Monday, 6 February 2012

Internet Copywriting – Key Tips

Writing for the web is a challenge. People have a very short attention span while browsing online and copywriters must grab their attention within that time with their copy. If you are a copywriter who is looking to get established in the online world, there are some fundamental internet copywriting tips and tricks that you must understand in order to attract and retain maximum traffic.

Internet Copywriting Tips

1.Crisp & concise: According to a research conducted about online user behavior, it is estimated that on an average people spend only a measly 56 seconds on any website. This shows that most users only scan your web pages and content. Thus, the job of an internet copywriter becomes all the more difficult.

The first internet copywriting tip is to not only write informative copy but also make it crisp, concise and clear. In case you are dealing with loads of information, break it in parts/points and give the right headings or titles to each point. This will help users to just glance and get a gist of the matter even without reading the entire content.

2.Write short paragraphs: If you are unable to break the content into points, make sure that the content is divided into short paragraphs. Long paragraphs are a huge turn off in internet copywriting and can drive away visitors instantly. Writing short paragraphs presenting the ideas clearly are extremely important in internet copywriting.

3.Don’t brag too much: This is one of the biggest mistakes that people commit in internet copywriting. In the process of promoting their business or company, they often end up writing copy that is either too self-centered or brags about your products or services. Visitors prefer to read content that is genuine and is not over-the-top. The best way to approach this is to write a copy that explains the benefits to the users.

4.Write according to the target market: Every target market or target audience has unique tastes, preferences and lingo. Writers must tweak and modify their style while writing for specific target audiences. For e.g. the language used for promoting a designer apparel website will be different from the one based on insurance. Thus, internet copywriting demands writers to be flexible with their style and choice of words while addressing different types of market segments.

5.Highlight the benefits: While writing a sales copy, most copywriters simply focus on the features of the product or service, but do not highlight the core benefits of these features to the users. Internet copywriting is all about explaining the user the benefit that each of the feature will provide.

6.Keyword density: This is a factor that is exclusive to internet copywriting. Since search engines work on the basis of keywords, adding them to your content is absolutely critical. However, again most writers make the mistake of stuffing their articles with keywords. While writing articles for submissions, it is advisable to maintain the keyword density around 3-5 percent.

These are some of the most essential internet copywriting tips that writers must bear in mind. It is only when you follow these tips to the core that your content will be user friendly and help you in acquiring and retaining visitors.